Hope For a New Beginning
by ChibiMoon921
Summary: Takes place during the 'Pine Hollow' timeline. After the disaster that hit Pine Hollow, Ben and Carole are devastated. But then they discover something that gives them hope. One-shot. Ben and Carole.


**Hope for a New Beginning**

The flames were growing more intense. Closer, closer...no, she had to fight it, she had to escape the intense heat and smoke, she had to! Her eyes flicked around in a panic. The tongues of fire were too high up in front of her, enveloping the stall door, but they were still shallow to her left and right.

Now too smokey to see, she lashed out blindly, hoping to destroy whatever blocked her path. At last, her legs struck wood, and the bright moonlight and clean air flooded the tiny stall.

With a whinny, Firefly raced out of the burning stable and into the woods, wanting nothing more than to get as far away from the fire as her hooves could possibly take her.

* * *

"Hi, boy," Carole Hanson whispered thickly through her tears as she gently rubbed Barq's nose. "I'll bet you're cold, aren't you? It's okay, Barq, it'll be okay." Even as she whispered those words, she didn't believe them. How could anything ever be okay again? Pine Hollow was gone, five of the horses were...were...she couldn't bear to continue the thought. After Stevie had dug out the charred remains of the lucky horseshoe from the debris, Carole had fled from the scene, unable to take it anymore. She had numbly managed to find her way here, to the back paddock on the edge of the forest where fifteen or so of the surviving horses were being held. It was here she needed to be. Horses had always managed to comfort her in times of tragedy in ways that nothing or no one else ever seemed to...

"Carole?"

Carole turned her head at the deep voice that had broken into the cold and silent morning air. Ben Marlow had come to stand beside her, leaning his elbows on the edge of the paddock fence. "B-Ben," Carole managed to whisper, biting her lip in an attempt to stop fresh tears from spilling over.

Ben's searching brown eyes were focused on her, reflecting her sadness. "I-I just wanted to make sure...are you okay?" He asked quietly.

Carole swallowed hard, trying to muster up the courage to be strong. She felt stupid for crying, for giving in to all of her raging emotions over the loss of something so near and dear to her. She wanted to be brave, not to be in pieces in front of her friends. She didn't want any of them, especially Ben, to see her like this.

Not trusting her voice, she nodded shakily.

Ben wasn't fooled by her brave front. Snaking an arm around her shoulders, he pulled her tightly in an embrace, wrapping his other arm around her front. Burying his face into her hair, he whispered, "It's all right, Carole. I'm here now. You can let it all out."

Those words acted as a floodgate for Carole. With a small sob she turned and buried her face in Ben's chest, enclosing her arms around his back as she wept. Ben tightened his grip on her, stroking her hair gently and fighting back his own emotions as he comforted her.

For the longest time the couple stayed like that, each one almost afraid to let go of one another and face reality. Carole finally stopped crying and rested her head on Ben's shoulder, letting the familiar scent of his spicy cologne lull her into a sense of security.

Suddenly, Ben lifted his head. "Did you hear something?"

Carole looked up at him questioningly, wondering what he meant. Then, faintly, she heard it, too. It was soft, but unmistakable.

_The whinny of a horse._

And it wasn't coming from the ones in the paddock, either. This cry seemed far off, _behind_ them instead of in front of them.

Carole furrowed her eyebrows. "It sounds like it's coming from--"

"The woods." Ben finished for her.

Both seeming to have the same idea, they trudged through the thicket into the forest. Carole was grateful that it was now daylight and the sun was shining through the sparse trees. "What do you think it could be?" She wondered aloud.

Ben shrugged, then slowed his steps when he heard it again. "This way," he directed, grasping Carole's hand as he led her off the path.

Carole stopped in her tracks when they'd reached the source of the noise. Ben dropped her had suddenly, no doubt stunned at what was standing before them.

"_Firefly_?" Carole cried dubiously, not letting herself believe what her eyes were telling her to be true. Her breath caught in her throat as the dappled gray mare pricked her ears up and lifted her head at their entrance, her entire demeanor clearly stating, 'Took you long enough to find me.'

Ben rubbed his eyes, too disbelieving at first to speak. Finally, he found his voice and managed to choke out, "Firefly-but-but how? She was still inside-I-I thought--"

And then they were stumbling towards the horse, Ben rubbing a hand up and down the mare's back when he reached her and Carole flinging her arms around Firefly's neck. The tears were flowing freely now, but Carole felt no shame. This time, they were tears of happiness.

"How'd you get out, girl?" Ben murmured, his dark eyes scanning the horse quickly for any signs of injury. "She looks pretty good. A few burns, but certainly no worse off than any of the others. Are we ever happy to see you!" He exclaimed, with no doubt of the joy and relief in his voice.

Carole resurfaced from Firefly's mane. "She must have escaped somehow, and has been out her all night long. She probably wanted to get as far away from the fire as possible." She turned her eyes back to the dappled mare. "Didn't you, sweetie?"

"Maybe through the rear door to the stall," Ben reasoned, giving the horse an approving pat on the neck.

"Whatever it was, it's a miracle." Carole gave Firefly a kiss on the nose, giggling when the mare returned the gesture by breathing softly on her face.

Carole had been devastated when she'd learned of the five missing horses after the awful fire. But her heart had felt an especially sharp pain when Ben had uttered Firefly's name. Both she and Ben had spent months training the feisty horse, and both felt a special attachment to her. She had been just ready to start her career. _And now you can, can't you, girl?_ Carole thought with a smile,_ You've got your whole life ahead of you._

As Ben pulled Carole into a tight hug and they reveled int heir joy of finding another survivor, Carole felt tears trickle down her cheeks. Yes, even through this disaster, they had found a sliver of hope. Hope.

And that was the best start of a new beginning Carole could ask for.

**The End**

**Author's Note**: Hi, everybody! I hope you all enjoyed my first Ben and Carole fanfic! After reading the (sadly) last book of the _Pine Hollow_ series, #17 "Full Gallop," I was distraught over what they did to Pine Hollow, and especially Firefly, so I wanted to give Ben and Carole a little miracle and bring Firefly back. If you love Ben + Carole, please visit my fanlisting dedicated to them: rose-magnifique(dot)net/bencarole

Sorry, this site won't let me put in URLs.


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